How to Give Your Resume a Boost with Metrics CareerMetis.com

How to Give Your Resume a Boost with Metrics The easiest and most effective strategy for highlighting the achievements in a resume: with metrics!There are several reasons for quantifying your accomplishments on your resume with metrics. Numbers tend to jump off the page, they add specificity to actions, and above all, they are more persuasive than words alone.evalEmployers want tangible proof that you can deliver results. And results are typically measured in numerical terms.You’ve probably heard the term KPI, which stands for key performance indicator. This is how companies judge their existing employees. It’s how they attribute value to people, helping them make decisions on promotions and raises.As a job seeker, a good way strategy for getting hired is to try and guess which KPIs are most important for the role and company you are pursuing. Then include metrics on your resume that seem to align well with these KPIs.Here’s a simple example: a company is hiring a new business development manager. They want someone who ha s a track record of landing new clients and expanding existing client accounts. How do you tailor your resume to this job description? Well for starters, you better make sure it mentions how many clients you recruited at your last job or how you grew particular account by a certain percentage.The types of metrics that are relevant for your resume will depend on the company and job you are seeking. But here are 5 metrics that recruiters love to see:GrowthevalMost organizations pursue some form of growth: revenue, clients, clicks, influence, etc. That means they want people who can help them get from where they are now, to somewhere even better. Again, this growth is probably measured in KPIs.Use the job description to determine the types of growth the company might find valuable. This includes click-through rates, revenue, new clients or staff increases.Here are some examplesof what these might look like on a resume:Grew annual revenue from technology client accounts by an average of 10 percent annually over five years.Developed email marketing strategy that drove 700,000 click-throughs from e-newsletters to company’s online store. SavingevalWhether you are applying to a small business with two employees or a multi-national corporation, chances are good they appreciate money saved. That, or they appreciate saving time Using metrics that compare your results against others is a great way to demonstrate the significance of your achievements. It may seem a bit boastful, but hey, that’s what resumes are for!Consider using metrics that express a ranking, typically using terms like “best”, “most”, “highest”, “top”, etc. This might include comparing your results to industry or company standards, to other employees, or how you helped your company outrank its competitors.Examples:Executed more than 50 sales call per day, with the highest conversion rate of any employee for three straight years.Launched multiple web-apps through Product Hunt that achi eved top three ranking amongst thousands of daily product releases from competitors.evalFrequencySimilar to impact metrics, frequency metrics give significance to your resume statements. They prove to recruiters how familiar you are with a certain job function.Look to include metrics that quantify your accomplishments in terms of time. How often did you do a certain task or achieve a specific result?Examples:Organized weekly meetings for senior management team by coordinating schedules, booking facilities and developing required meeting materials.Dedicated 30 percent of daily work time towards proofreading sponsorship request letters.Conducted monthly audits of internal financial management procedures, contributing to a perfect compliance record each month.Using Multiple MetricsBy now you’ve probably realized that many of these metrics overlap with one another. In fact, it’s a great idea to try to use multiple metrics simultaneously to try to make your statements even more convi ncing. Just don’t take it too far: having four numbers in one resume bullet point will look like a robot wrote it.Examples of combining metrics:Organized and promoted monthly social media seminars involving between 50-100 prospective clients.Managed a team of 15 engineers working on automating systems for an agriculture client, with the final project being deliver ahead of schedule and 10 per cent under budget.Practical Tips for Using Metrics on Your ResumeFinally, some additional tips to remember when using metrics on your resume:Quantify, quantify and quantifyAs a general rule for your resume, quantify statements whenever possible. This will make sure you avoid speaking about your skills and experience in vague terms, which are easy for recruiters to ignore.Use the right format for numbers Resumes are worthless without clean writing. If you are using numbers on your resume, make sure you use the correct format. Numbers from zero to nine should be spelled out; 10 and above should be in number format; same with any number that contains decimals Don’t just use metrics for the sake of using metrics. Make them as persuasive as possible by including enough context around them to appeal to the employer. (Example: “Wrote 7 articles for the company’s blog” versus “Wrote 7 advice pieces on front-end development for the company’s blog over the course of two months.”)Numbers can tell a pretty compelling story. And telling an impressive personal story with your job application is your ticket to getting hired. So follow the advice above and be sure to weave metrics into your resume.